Navigating Library Services: Challenges and Opportunities in Moving Music and Dance Collections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Libraries at Western Michigan University closed the Harper C. Maybee Music and Dance Library, and moved its collections to Waldo Library, the main library on campus. This decision was the result of budget cuts at Western Michigan University during the pandemic, and the University Libraries’ response to operate within our budget by consolidating services and collection spaces. The Maybee Music and Dance Library was closed, along with the rest of the campus libraries, in March 2020. The music and dance collections were moved between March and May of 2021,after which they were available to users at Waldo Library. The University Libraries posted signs at the site of the former Music and Dance Library and the Fine Arts Librarian sent messages to the administration and faculty of the School of Music and Department of Dance during this time to inform the faculty and students of the move and the services that would continue to be available. In spite of this, there were some misunderstandings about the services that would continue to be available to music faculty and students that needed to be corrected. In an effort to maintain close ties with the School of Music, and the Department of Dance – and to build connections with the Department of Theatre and the Frostic School of Art, the Fine Arts Librarian began to schedule a series of “librarian hours” in the Dalton Center and the Richmond Center so that he could maintain a visible physical presence among the Fine Arts students and faculty, and he also started the Library at the Concert Hall series, in which he presented library materials and information resources at selected School of Music performances. This poster outlines this transition and the challenges and opportunities it presented.